Movie 6: The Commitments

The Commitments follows the story of young musician Jimmy Rabbitte in his quest to manage “the world’s greatest soul band”. Assembling a group of young musicians, with the help of Musical veteran, Joey “the Lips” Fagan, Jimmy begins to whip the members into shape, with both brilliant and disastrous results.

Directed by Alan Parker, The Commitments is the film adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s novel about a Dublin soul band from “Barrytown”. Although a fictional location, Doyle based Barrytown on  Kilbarrack, a working class area in North County Dublin. The film was shot in 44 locations throughout Dublin’s North side and city center with only one location (Jimmy Rabbitte’s House) created in a studio.

Kilbarrack

Only one of these 44 scenes was actually shot in Kilbarrack itself. The walkway, where Jimmy Rabbitte convinces Outspan and Derek that they should play ‘Dublin Soul’ – and have ‘The’ in their name – is Kilbarrack D.A.R.T. (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) Station.

Kilbarrack, served by a station principally was constructed for the new council residential areas that were becoming established in the area. Kilbarrack Station was opened on the 1st June 1969, and was of a simple construction, consisting of up & down platforms, small concrete built booking office and a Victorian footbridge which had been salvaged from a former station elsewhere. In the early 1980s, with the commencement of the DART services, the footbridge was replaced as well as the booking office, a red bricked building taking its place.

St. Lawrence O’Toole Church, Sheriff Street

For the opening scene with Jimmy is seen trying to offload cassettes and t-shirts. Although the street market featured was created for the film. It was on Sheriff Street, in front of St Laurence O’Toole Church, in the North Wall district, just east of Dublin’s city centre.

The Camden Deluxe Hotel

The dilapidated pool hall above which the band rehearses is located above the Palace Nightclub in the Camden Deluxe Hotel, Camden Street. It was Ricardo’s Snooker Hall, built in 1912 as a movie palace, and given an art deco makeover in the Thirties. (According to local rumour, Rita Hayworth and her husband attended a screening here in the 1950s).

It’s now the Camden Deluxe Hotel, 84-87 Camden Street Lower, south of Temple Bar. The elaborately decorated arched ceiling seen in the film has been preserved and is now part of the Palace Nightclub, above the hotel. The room still serves as a popular snooker hall just as in the film. The Commitments ‘rehearsal room’ was also seen in 1995’s An Awfully Big Adventure, with Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman.

St Francis Xavier Church 

The church, in which Jimmy finds keyboard player Steven playing A Whiter Shade of Pale on the organ and where at confession the priest displays an inept knowledge of Sixties soul) is St Francis Xavier Church, Upper Gardiner Street, near Mountjoy Square.

Designed by Father Bartholomew Esmonde SJ the church was erected by the architect Joseph B. Keane. The first stone of this classical cut granite building was laid on 2 July 1829, the year of Catholic Emancipation.

 Architectural critic Christine Casey describes it in her book, "Dublin", as "the most elegant church of the period in Dublin". 

The building is known for its collection, sculpted altar piece, and paintings, mostly Italian in origin and dating from the Victorian period. 

 Father B. Esmonde's knowledge of the temples of Italy acquired during his long residency there is reflected in the churches own architectural features, including iconic colonnade, portico and visually deceptive celestial domed ceiling.

In 1889 the funeral was held here for the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.

The church also features in James Joyce's short story "Grace" from Dubliners, however The Commitments was the only movie filmed in this location.

Mansion House, Dawson Street

The ‘Westley Hotel’, where Jimmy tags along with Joey in the hope of meeting soul legend Wilson Pickett makes a convincing-looking hotel is none other than the city’s Mansion House on Dawson Street, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715, which now also houses the restaurant, Fire.